


Will's Quest

by RainbowMoon



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Bickering, Dorks, Fluff, Gay Pride, Homophobia, Little bit of angst, Love, M/M, Manticore, Post- The Hidden Oracle, Pride, Quest, Romance, Texas, Will's backstory, nico is a badass, rated teen for a few homophobic insults in chapter 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-16 12:51:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9272600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowMoon/pseuds/RainbowMoon
Summary: There is a monster on the loose in Austin, Texas. Will's knowledge of his home city makes him the most qualified person for the quest. Will left for a reason though. Will he be able to handle going back? Good thing that Nico is coming with him.OrThe one where Will and Nico go to the Austin Pride Festival.





	1. Chapter 1

When Will was told that Chiron wanted to speak with him, he assumed that it would be news about his father. Apollo had left a few days prior with Leo and Calypso, and fears for their safety had been a constant presence on the back of Will's mind. Will was surprised, to say the least, when Chiron instead started talking about Will's hometown of Austin, Texas.

"Will, how long has it been since you were in Austin?", the centaur asked.

"I visited my mom a few months ago, but I haven't gone anywhere besides her apartment for about three years."

Chiron let out a small sigh, "I know that the circumstances that lead you to leave are not a pleasant memory, but would you be willing to go back to the city for a small quest?"

Will was hesitant to reply. Half of him was excited that he was finally being offered the chance of a quest. The healer had never been needed to leave camp before. His talents were usually needed back at the infirmary. This was possibly his only chance at a real quest. If only it wasn't in Austin. The painful memories of that city were so strong that they prevented Will from seeing his mother other than a few special holidays. Naomi couldn't support herself without her music career in Austin, and Will couldn't bring himself to go back except for a few special days such as Christmas. Even then, he never ventured far outside his mother's apartment, and the trips usually emotionally exhausted him.

"You can bring a friend along with you on the quest. If that would make things easier," Chiron added, dragging Will out of his thoughts.

Will was never one to let an opportunity slip by. He knew that he would always regret not going on this quest if he reclined the chance. "I'll be willing to go back to Austin for a quest, but only if Nico can come with me."

Chiron let out a small smile. "I knew that you would pick the son of Hades to be your companion.

Will blushed. "What will I need to do on this quest?"

Chiron pulled a newspaper out of a desk and handed it to Will. He pointed to a photo. "This news article states that this is the mayor of Austin. I'm sure that if you look at it, you will be able to see that is not true."

Will looked down at the photo. It was a man standing at a podium. Most people wouldn't think anything about the photo was strange, but Will instantly noticed that the man had eyes that were two different colors, one blue, one brown. It was an obvious characteristic of a manticore in disguise. 

"That's a manticore," Will exclaimed.

Chiron nodded. "I'm not sure how long the manticore has been pretending to be the mayor of Austin, but he has been playing along with the disguise and attending all the various events on the actual mayor's schedule. The mayor is supposed to speak at the city's pride festival tomorrow. I need you to go there and kill the manticore, but without letting the entire world believe that the actual mayor was murdered."

"Do you know if the real mayor is still alive?" Will asked.

"Manticores are known to eat humans, but this one may be keeping the actual mayor alive in order to help keep up the disguise. You need to find out if he is alive before you kill the manticore. If he isn't alive then you need to make it seem like he was killed in some kind of accident."

Will nodded.

Chiron handed Will the newspaper and lead him to the door. "I'm sure that you are aware that the Oracle will not be able to help you on this quest, and that all forms of communication are still not working."

"Yes, I know. I'll make sure to be careful," Will replied with a smile.

"Good luck," Chiron said to Will as he headed towards Nico's cabin. 

 

 

"What the Hades is a pride festival?" Nico asked Will after he explained the quest.

Will rolled his eyes, "It's a festival to celebrate the queer community."

Nico nodded. "It's kind of a coincidence that Chiron would put you on this quest."

"He didn't choose me because I happen to be gay, Nico. It's because I'm from Austin. I know the city better than everyone at camp," Will explained then added, "The fact that I'll be able to walk around looking like a human rainbow is just an added bonus."

Nico rolled his eyes, "Please don't."

"Too late," Will said with a grin, "I've already decided exactly what I'm going to wear."

"You're going to look ridiculous," Nico teased.

"Trust me Nico, I promise that I'll be one of the most normal looking people at the festival."

"Are you sure that you want to go back to Austin?" Nico asked, "I know that you can't even talk about what happened before you left. Do you really want to go back there?"

Will sighed, "I'm nervous to be honest, but I'll have my super hot and badass boyfriend there to kill anyone who messes with me."

Nico rolled his eyes, "You know I don't like that word."

“If you won’t let me call you my boyfriend, then what am I supposed to call you then?" Will asked seriously.

Nico shrugged. "I'm not the biggest fan of any terms of endearment."

"That's not a good enough reason for me to stop."

"Fine. Just don't introduce me as that to new people, and don't expect me to use it back," Nico said as he picked up a backpack and started shoving clothing into it.

Will nodded. "I'm gonna go back to my cabin and pack. I'll meet you at Thalia's tree in 10 minutes."

"Are you going to let me shadow travel us there?" Nico asked hopefully.

Will sighed. "Yes, but only because we have a very limited amount of time and we'll probably get killed by monsters if we try to make it all the way to Texas by car."

Nico smiled as Will turned around to leave.

"Do you want orange gatorade or blue?" Will asked as he stood in the doorway of the cabin.

"Orange. You know I hate when it turns my tongue blue."

"I like when it turns your tongue blue. It makes you look cute."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the purpose of this story, we are just going to pretend that Austin Pride happens in February, or right after about when The Hidden Oracle takes place, instead of in August. Also I'm not sure if the mayor actually talks at Austin Pride, but I know that the mayor of Philadelphia talked at Philly Pride, so that's what I'm basing this on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys arrive in Texas.

Both Nico and Will were surprised when Nico managed to stay conscious after shadow traveling. He had needed to immediately chug two gatorades then lay on the ground for ten minutes, but it was a huge amount of progress since the war with Gaea.

"I guess I'm going to have to rethink the entire plan I had for today. I thought that I was going to have to sit next to you on the sidewalk somewhere while you were passed out for five hours," Will teased.

Nico smirked, "I told you that I'm regaining control of my Underworld powers."

"Yeah, well you shouldn't start bragging yet. You managed to land us in an alleyway in the middle of nowhere. I'm not even sure if we are in Texas."

Nico stood up and pointed to a sign, "That sign says _Rick's Barbecue House, Best Ribs in Austin_. I think we hit the right spot."

Suddenly Will felt like all the warmth had been drained from his body. "I know where we are. We need to leave."

He grabbed Nico's hand and practically ran out of the alleyway. Nico normally would have teased Will about the hand-holding, but his hand had never felt so cold or shaky before. Nico knew that he was serious. 

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Nico asked, "Where are we going."

"My mom's apartment," Will stated.

Nico stopped dead in his tracks, pulling Will back with him. "You want me to meet your mom?" he asked nervously.

Will rolled his eyes. "You know that my mom lives here. The festival isn't until tomorrow. Where else are we supposed to sleep. A park bench somewhere?"

Nico shrugged, "Yeah."

Will started to walk again and pulled Nico along with him. "She's my mom, Nico. You don't have to be nervous. You're always very polite to people who aren't me. I'm sure she'll love you."

 

_15 minutes later_

 

Nico instantly bonded with Miss Solace. Will, on the other hand, was starting to regret not taking the option of sleeping on a park bench. It had only been ten minutes and Nico and his mom were already swapping embarrassing stories about him. 

"Will always wanted to be a doctor when he was little. He used to perform check-ups on his Barbie dolls."

Nico laughed. "You played with Barbies?"

Will groaned. "I've always been very attuned with my feminine side. Besides, using Barbie's was great practice. How do you think I got so good at reattaching limbs?"

Nico expected Will's mom to look her son horrified after that statement, but instead she just asked the two boys if they wanted any snacks. Will nodded and she left to go to the kitchen.

"Why is your mom so calm about the fact that you are able to reattach people's limbs?" Nico asked.

Will shrugged. "My mom knows that my healing powers allow me to do things that normal doctors can't. Plus I wrote to her at least once a week before all the camp's communication stopped working. She knows all about Paolo's tendency to lose limbs."

Nico's face suddenly fell. "Have you written about me in your letters?"

Will sighed. "I know want you're wondering, and no, she doesn't know that we're dating. But she's known that I like boys since before I left for camp. So don't worry, but we don't have to tell her if you don't want to though."

"I wish that you gave me that option with your dad."

Will let out a small groan. "Everyone at Camp Half-blood knew that we're a couple, and my dad has dated plenty of guys before. I didn't think you would care if I told him. I’ve told you that I’m sorry."

 Nico sighed. "It's fine. Sometimes I forget that things are different now. Every time that someone new finds out that we're a couple and reacts positively, it helps me to realize how accepting the world is now."

Naomi Solace walked back in the room carrying a plate of chocolate chip cookies. "I need to get back to my song writing now, but if you boys need anything then just come find me."

"Thanks mom," Will said with a smile as he stuffed a cookie into his mouth.

“Thanks Miss Solace,” Nico said as she left the room.

Nico picked up a cookie and stared at it. "Are you going to tell her why you're here?"

Will sighed and a few cookie crumbs fell out of his mouth. "I don't want her to worry. I'm sure that she knows that I'm here for a reason. She doesn't like to make a big deal when I visit though. I think it helps her cope with the fact that I'm gone so much. Whenever I'm here she just acts like it's a normal day. Like it was before I left."

Nico took his time eating a single cookie as Will devoured the ones remaining on the plate.

"Have you ever played Mario Kart?" Will asked once he was finished.

Nico smirked. "I have actually."

Will looked at him shocked. "I didn’t actually think you would say yes. Where on earth did you play Mario Kart?"

Nico shrugged. "I spent the majority of my time in the Lotus Hotel playing video games. I remember that a day or two before I left, they brought in a Mario Kart arcade machine. I spent an entire day playing it. That was probably equal to like two whole years in real world time."

"I bet I can stick kick your butt though," Will teased.

"In your dreams, Solace."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be the only chapter with Will's mom, but I'm debating on writing another one just for her.  
> Also, I'm really bad at comma placement. So sorry for any errors.
> 
> (Also, the Mario Kart arcade machine came out in 2005, and Rick's timeline is really messed up, but I'm 99% sure that Nico was still in the hotel at that point.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will tells Nico why he's afraid to come back to Austin.

Will stopped counting how many races Nico had won after he reached 50. For a kid who was born in the 1930s, Nico was ridiculously skilled at video games. He also seemed to be borderline obsessed with them. It wasn't until after midnight that Will finally convinced him that they should sleep.

Will crawled into his full-size bed while Nico stood in the middle of the room awkwardly. "Are you coming?" Will asked sleepily.

Nico didn't move. "You want us to sleep in the same bed?"

Will yawned. "We can sleep on opposite sides of the bed from each other. You won't even know I'm here."

"Can't I just sleep on the couch downstairs?" Nico asked.

Will sat up. "Nico, we are really vulnerable to monster attacks right now, and I don't think that we should separate. Trust me, sleeping in the same bed isn't a big deal. People do it at sleepovers all the time."

Nico still didn't move.

Will sighed. He slowly picked up a blanket and rolled onto the floor. "My stupid old-fashioned boyfriend is so annoying," he mumbled sleepily as he curled up into a ball.

Nico couldn't help but smile. Will always did anything he could to make sure that he was comfortable.

"Goodnight Solace," Nico said tiredly as he crawled into Will's bed.

"Goodnight Di Angelo." 

 

Will was instantly bright awake the moment that the sun rose. It was one of the “perks” of being a son of Apollo. Most days he woke up with the sun. He sat up and looked at Nico. The son of Hades was sprawled out on his bed, and the blankets were a jumbled mess. Will couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

Will looked around the room. It was technically his, but he rarely ever slept in it. He tried to visit as often as he could, but sometimes he would realize that he wasn't mentally ready to spend a day in Austin right before he was supposed to leave. The thought of having to walk around the city at the pride festival all day made his heart start to beat faster. He looked over at Nico. Nico had no idea what had happened to Will. Will figured that it was probably time to tell him... if he ever woke up.

It was another three hours before Nico stirred. Will had passed the time by attempting to improve his Mario Kart skills, but he still didn't think he was going to be able to win a game against his boyfriend any time soon.

"What time is it?" Nico asked groggily as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"It's only about 10. I think that's a new record for you. I would have bet that you would have been out until noon," Will responded without taking his eyes off the TV screen. He was currently in first, but Yoshi was right behind him. He couldn't let that little green shit win.

"What time do we have to be at the festival?" Nico asked as he stumbled out of bed and shuffled over to Will.

Will shrugged. "I think it starts at 11, but the mayor won't speak until the end. I was thinking that we would go earlier though and just walk around."

"Okay."

Will groaned as Yoshi passed him and won the race. "Stupid dinosaur."

Nico laughed. "You're so bad at this game."

Will threw down his controller. "It's probably because I didn't spend 80 years playing video games like you did."

Nico shrugged.

"Hey Neeks?"

"Don't call me that."

"Can I tell you something? Something.... Important."

Nico sat down next to Will. "You can tell me anything."

Will sighed. "Before I tell you this, you need to remember that most people are very accepting now. Way more than when you were young, but some... aren't. I don't want you to get scared or anything."

Nico looked at his boyfriend with concern. "Will, what happened?"

"When I was about twelve, a girl started flirting with me. I told her that I wasn't interested, and she got really upset. I ended up telling her that I didn’t think I liked girls in an attempt to make her feel better. I didn’t think she would tell anyone, but she did."

"Will," Nico cut in, "You don't have to continue."

Will shook his head. "I need to get this out."

Nico Nodded.

"Because of her, my entire school found out that I don't like girls. Most of the kids didn't care, but a few did. It wasn't that bad at first. They just called me names as I passed them in the hallway, or made stupid jokes. Like I said, it was only a few kids, so I wasn't scared or anything.”

Will paused for a moment.

“One day when I left school, some kids were waiting for me outside. I was expecting them to call me a few names, but instead they went after me. This one kid named Eric, he was the worst. He punched me in the face then started kicking me when I fell back on the ground. The whole time he was calling me names. After he kicked me a few times, some other boys joined him. I didn't think that they were ever going to stop... That's why I hate coming back here. This whole city is a reminder of what they did to me."

"Will, you can just stay in here if it's too much. I'll take care of the manticore," Nico said as he placed his hand into Will's.

Will shook his head. "I'm tired of being scared. I’ve fought in two wars, but I can’t handle visiting home just because of a few stupid kids. It’s ridiculous. I'm tired of never being able to see my mom. I need to try and move on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a hard time writing this chapter without it feeling choppy or awkward. :/


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will are at the festival when someone confronts them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning that there are some homophobic insults in this chapter.

The pride festival shocked Nico to say the least. He could barely process what was happening. He had never seen so many rainbows in his entire life. All around him people were wearing outfits that would have gotten them arrested for public indecency in the 1930s. He was also surprised by the amount of same-sex couples that were openly showing affection. He didn't know if he should be happy or terrified. This was so different from anything he had ever experienced in his entire life. He reached out and squeezed Will's wrist. At first he didn't want to been seen with Will when he took one look at his bright rainbow t-shirt and headband, but now he realized that Will was right when he said that he would be one of the most normal looking people at the festival.

"Is it always like this?" Nico asked as he stared at a particularly over-the-top looking drag queen.

Will laughed. "Yeah, I think so. Also, Austin isn't the only city that has pride events. Festivals and parades like this are common in most large cities."

Nico let out a small shriek when a woman stuck a rainbow sticker onto his shirt. He then glared at Will as the taller boy burst into laughter. Will reached up to Nico's hand and intertwined their fingers. Nico instinctively started to pull away.

"What's wrong?" Will asked.

"There's people, Will," Nico whispered as he looked around.

Will rolled his eyes then motioned towards two guys making out in the middle of the walkway.

"Fine," Nico said as he relaxed his hand into Will's, "But if you start trying to kiss me, I'm going to cut your lips off."

"There's still about an hour before the mayor speaks. Do you want to walk around more or watch the performances on the stage?" Will asked.

"Yeah, I think sitting down is a good idea."

"Do you want to get water first?"

Nico nodded.

They were halfway to the water stand when Will heard someone call his name.

He turned around to a group of boys standing off to the side of the festival.

"Shit, Will. Is that really you?" One of the boys called out.

Will immediately recognized him.

"Nico, we gotta go," Will said as he tried to pull Nico away.

"Who is that?" Nico asked.

The guy walked towards Will and Nico. "And it looks like you got yourself a boyfriend. Isn't that cute," he said mockingly.

"Remember that guy Eric I told you about. That's him," Will whispered as he tried harder to drag Nico away.

Nico flicked Will off of him and started walking towards Eric.

"Nico, what the Hades are you doing?" Will asked nervously.

"What do you want?" Nico asked Eric.

Eric laughed. "I just want to catch up with Will. I'm not very surprised that he came to this fag fest."

"Nico, it's fine. Let's just walk away. He's not worth it," Will said as he came up and put his hand on Nico's shoulder.

Eric laughed. "Save your breath Will. I'm not scared of your little queen."

"What did you just call him?" Will asked angrily. All traces of nervousness were gone from his body.

"Will?" Nico asked.

He let go of Nico’s shoulder.

Nico took that as a sign to stop holding back, and he instantly kicked Eric in the groin. As soon as Eric cringed over, Nico swept his right leg out from under him, causing him to fall face first onto the ground. After a moment, Nico acted like he was going to walk away, but then turned around and kicked him once in the gut. "Stay away from my boyfriend, or I'll send you straight to Hell."

Before Eric could say anything, Nico turned and continued walking towards the water stand.

Will glared at Eric before following him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but this chapter was also difficult to write. I'll try to have the next one up by Wednesday.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally face the manticore.

"I can't believe you broke your toe," Will said as he held ice onto Nico's foot. Apparently Nico had kicked Eric harder than he had intended to.

"It wouldn't be a big deal if you just use your healing powers on me," Nico complained.

"Yeah, that's a great way to alert the manticore that two demigods are after it. Just keep pressure off your foot and I'll heal you as soon as we get back to camp."

Nico winced as he tried placing his foot on the ground.

Will rolled his eyes. "You walked around for a week with infected werewolf scratches and told me that it wasn't a big deal, but one broken toe and you act like a big baby."

"You know Solace, I just beat up an asshole for you. You should be thanking me instead of making fun of me."

"You didn't have to do that. I know I egged you on in the moment, but we could have just walked away."

Nico shrugged. "He deserved it."

"So does this mean that you're finally going to call me your boyfriend?"

Nico groaned. "I actually called you that. Didn't I?"

Will nodded.

"Okay so maybe, just maybe, I internally refer to you as my boyfriend, but don't get used to hearing it out loud."

Will's face burst into a huge grin, and Nico would be lying if he said that it didn't make his heart flutter.

 

Nico and Will looked up at the stage where the supposed mayor was giving a speech. To any regular mortal, the manticore was doing a pretty good job at appearing human. The two demigod boys knew differently though. Something about the way he moved and talked just didn't seem right.

"So, what's our plan of action?" Will whispered into Nico's ear.

Nico shrugged. "We wait until he leaves the stage, then follow him."

The manticore in disguise only talked for a few minutes before he exited backstage. Nico saw him reappear a few seconds later, heading towards a small building. Nico nudged Will's arm then motioned towards the manticore. Will nodded and they silently started to follow. The manticore then entered the building, and Nico and Will crouched down outside.

"This looks like it's the only door," Nico said quietly.

"Should we just go in there and confront him?" Will asked.

Nico pondered the thought for a moment. "Yeah, probably." He then shot up and slammed through the door.

Will frantically stumbled after him.

The manticore turned around. "Ah yes, I thought I smelled demigods."

"Why are you here?" Will asked.

"Well you see, this city is the perfect place to-” The manticore was interrupted by Nico suddenly slashing through it with his sword, causing it to instantly burst into dust.

Will looked at him with wide eyes. "Why did you do that?"

"What do you mean? We came here to kill him."

"Yeah, but he was in the middle of saying something."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I don't waste my time talking to monsters like Percy does. I came here to kill it, so that's what I did."

"But we never found out if the real mayor is still alive."

"He is," Nico stated confidently. 

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel that his life force hasn't crossed to the Underworld. I'm guessing that he's locked in the closet or something," Nico said as he motioned towards a door in the corner of the room.

Will opened the door, and sure enough, a middle-aged man was lying inside of it. He was unconscious and tied up with a rope.

"What do you think he saw through the mist?" Will asked.

Nico shrugged, then pulled a small vial out of his pocket.

"What's in there?"

"Water from the river of Lethe. I got it from the Hypnos cabin before we left. I thought it could come in handy. We just give him some of this and his memories from the past few months will disappear."

Will looked at him stunned. "I don't know what I would have done on this quest without you."

"Yeah," Nico said with a smirk, "You have been a little useless."

"I helped you with your broken toe," Will pointed out.

"You didn't even heal it. It still hurts."

Nico untied the mayor then dragged him into the middle of the room.

"Should we just leave him here?" Will asked.

"I guess so."

With that, the boys tried not to draw attention to themselves as they exited the building. Will may have even gotten Nico to hold his hand as they walked through the pride festival. Maybe Austin wasn't such a bad place after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like 90% of the battles in Rick's books are just long conversations with the monsters. Nico just gets straight to the killing.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read this. I don't know how some of you manage to write these monster fics with like 300,000 words, because just getting this short story done was a struggle for me. All the nice comments and kudos mean a lot.


End file.
